North Carolina Piranha

Article By Writer Earl Birmingham Author: Earl Birmingham
Published: July 4, 2007
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A fisherman looking to catch a catfish for dinner instead reeled in a fish that flashed its teeth and bit his knife. Jerry Melton, 46, was fishing in the Catawba River last week when he caught what state wildlife officials later identified as a piranha, a South American carnivorous fish that lives in freshwater.

“When I got it on the bank I didn’t really know what it was; I hadn’t seen anything like it before,” Melton said.

When Melton opened the fish’s mouth with a pocketknife, he said the fish bit down and left an impression on the blade.

Wildlife officials told Melton on Saturday that he caught a 1 pound, 4 ounce piranha that was probably dumped in the river. Melton was fishing in Mount Holly, a town northwest of Charlotte.

The catch highlights the growing problem of people keeping exotic animals and fish as pets and later dumping them into local waters, said Paul Barrington, an ichthyologist with the Fort Fisher Aquarium. Earlier this year, another fisherman caught a snakehead fish _ also a nonnative fish _ in Lake Wylie near Charlotte.

“Releasing nonnative fish in our native waters is highly irresponsible because it could have a very adverse affect on the fish in that ecosystem,” Barrington said. “Piranha and the snakehead fish have no predators in our waters.”

Jacob Rash, a North Carolina Wildlife Resources biologist, said he believes the piranha was the first caught in the Catawba River and possibly the first in the region.

Melton, who is keeping the piranha in his freezer until he can have it mounted, said the experience will keep him out of the river’s water.

“I’ve been fishing there my whole life,” he said. “Catching something like that is definitely going to make me think twice about what’s in that water.”

From Associated Press.

GO HERE for an experts view on this story from the AP. This story has been debunked by our new friends at thewatersnake.com.

http://www.thewatersnake.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=596

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5 Responses to “North Carolina Piranha”

Magnus on July 5th, 2007 11:18 am

That fish was no piranha. It was a pacu. You can get pacu at any Petsmart. They are a vegetarian fish, related to the piranha but different, which outgrow any home aquarium inside of a year or two and are usually tossed out into local waterways.

Publishing this story is akin to shouting FIRE in a crowded theater. There was no piranha in NC waters. If the author had checked up with a credible source (F&W is not a credible source on identifying non-native species) the sensationalism of this story could have been avoided. Now people are going to panic over a fish that would prefer eating cherry tomatoes rather than your thumbs.
Michael Kraft on July 5th, 2007 11:34 am

Well “re”publishing is more accurate, and I agree what I saw on EVERY news channel being called a Pirahna does look alot like the Pacu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacu_(fish)
Michael Kraft on July 5th, 2007 11:35 am

Pacu, along with piranha, are currently further classified into the Serrasalminae family. Serrasalminae means “serrated salmon family” and is a name which refers to the serrated keel running along the belly of these fish. However, dental characteristics and feeding habits further separate the two groups from each other.[3]

The common name pacu is generally applied to fish classified under the following
Michael Kraft on July 8th, 2007 12:56 am
Tom Lorenz on July 8th, 2007 10:32 am

Yes, another pacu, and I agree, this is like shouting fire in a movie theater. But wildlife and media types seem to enjoy the attention and ignore the official identification. They need to print a follow up article (just as the folks in Maryland did a while back).